I am actively managing a lot of things. Chief among these is access to the property. I have also done a lot of habitat improvement. I have a deer sanctuary that draws deer from all the neighbors. When the shooting starts, they all run over to my place. However, I know I can't personally control the antler growth on animals that may roam over 10-15 square miles during the breeding season. All I can do is make my little 200 acre plot as inviting as possible and keep my does happy.

Now, is that QDM? I dunno. To me it's just a city guy wanting a place for him and his kids to hunt.

A rose by any other name...

Hey I guess that no matter what you call it, we are of the same mind. I do NOT do what I do to grow big antlers. To me, big antlers are a byproduct of age, and age comes from escape cover and trigger control. But even if I never take an old buck on my [size="1"]tiny [size="2"]property, I'll keep working to make it better.

Take a look at some of the stuff on the QDMA site sometime. I'll admit that I do not spend much time there anymore b/c it is geared more toward large property owners, but small timers like us are not alone.[/size][/size]

To me QDM adds to the overall hunting experience. Maybe we should call it QLM for quality land management when we can't truly manage the deer herd, but we can manage our little bits of paradise. I know I spend far more hours working with the land than I do hunting deer and I wouldn't have it any other way.

“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” Aldo Leopold

I was trying to think of how to bring this idea up to the guy that owns the land i bow hunt on and will probably gun hunt on some this year. He let's a lot of guys gun hunt on the land and im afraid they are the type that will shoot whatever walks by, at least thats the way my buddy is making it sound. There is nothing wrong with that, (i don't mean it as a degrading style of hunting) but thats not what me and my buddy are after on this land, that's all i mean. If it's a doe or if they choose a fawn so be it, thats fine. but i really wanna work on the buck mgt. So maybe me and my buddy will try to no less than 8 points and any and all the does they can shoot.

I was trying to think of how to bring this idea up to the guy that owns the land i bow hunt on and will probably gun hunt on some this year. He let's a lot of guys gun hunt on the land and im afraid they are the type that will shoot whatever walks by, at least thats the way my buddy is making it sound. There is nothing wrong with that, (i don't mean it as a degrading style of hunting) but thats not what me and my buddy are after on this land, that's all i mean. If it's a doe or if they choose a fawn so be it, thats fine. but i really wanna work on the buck mgt. So maybe me and my buddy will try to no less than 8 points and any and all the does they can shoot.

Demoderby4, how many hunters are going to be hunting this land? How many acres do you have under your "control". And lastly, what is the experience level of the hunters in question?

With a lot of hunters on limited acreage, many deer will die, most likely even those you let walk. So you have to be willing to let the deer walk because they are not something you personally want to shoot, not because you are hoping to see them next year - that can be hard sometimes. Because most likely you won't see them next year, although there is a small percentage chance you might.

However, if you too shoot any deer that walks by, then that deer definately won't have the opportunity to make it to next year. Knowing it only has a small percentage shot at making it anyway, you have to decide what it is you hope to get out of deer hunting and make your decision on that.

Myself, I've come to a point where I will let a deer walk, not because I hope to see it next year, but because it's not one I want to shoot. Don't get me wrong, my first two years if it was brown it was down. But having shot a few deer now I don't have quite the same desire to "just shoot something", I tend to try and take more away from the hunt then just a deer.

“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” Aldo Leopold

I voted age,but we also have antler restrictions. Six point min. and they must be outside the ears. We allow 2 1/2 year old bucks,but sugest that the members shoot bucks that are at least 3 1/2 years old. We also allow members to kill as many does and hogs as they want.

Oh I disagree! We need conservation to be back in style. It is very different than environmentalism.

Conservationists get their hands dirty and bloody in the process of saving the world.

Environmentalists just watch at a distance and eat granola.
[/quote]

This is so true. I had a disagreement with a person a week ago tonight. She claimed she was an environmentalist. I said don't even call yourself that. Do you actually go out there, and get your hands dirty, or do you just want things to remain the way they are and leave it in someone else's hands? She didn't reply, so instantly, I knew she knows nothing about either one. Too many people claim to things like this, yet they don't actually do the work, or the research. I don't want to get into this too deeply. But JPH hit it right on the head. So I'll just end with that.